Re: University License fees are short sighted of Wolfram Research

From: Dave (nospam_at_nowhere.com)
Date: 03/20/05 

Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 02:06:17 +0000

Nasser Abbasi wrote:
> Dave wrote:
>
>>
>> So in summary:
>>
>> Mathematica = 200/year. Software stops working after 1 year.
>> Matlab = 25 pounds/year with free updates for 4 years. Software
>> continues working after the 4 years.
>>
>> So Mathematica is costing 8x as much over a 4 year period, and even
>> more if you consider Matlab is not time-limited.
>
>
> hi;
>
> To be a little fair, Mathematica for students version costs $139
> in my school, and the Matlab for students version costs very
> close to this amount (I do not remember the exact amount,
> may be $129).
>
> Why is it important to have a site license when the cost of
> individual student copies is low?
>
> Nasser

Student copies can not be installed on a campus PC,but only on the
student's personal computer

http://store.wolfram.com/view/app/mathforstudents/

Unless the post-doc researchers and lecturing staff use the software,
the undergrads will not be encouraged to use it.

I just looked at the student numbers where I am and found they were
about twice what I thought - there are around 20,000 students. *IF* I
have the correct figure for the license, that is about £1/student
(~$1.80/student) - not a lot you might say, and even less when you
consider staff can use it too.

What would happen if it was free?

The usage would dramatically rise. Wolfram Research would only need to
sell 100 extra copies/year at commercial price to offset the loss of
license fee to the university. If an average student stays 5 years, that
means there would need to be a 0.5% increase in graduates leaving the
uni and buying copies at work. That will not be achieved in the first
year, but after a number of years, the popularity of the package would
rise and so the number of copies bought at commercial prices would rise.

Currently based on the price we pay for a copy if we want to use it
(£200/year), I think less than 0.5% of students+staff are paying for
copies so they can run it.

You might reasonably argue that if we have a site license that allows
20,000 students + staff to use it, then we should allow anyone to use
it. I guess I would tend to agree with that, but the fact is that is not
happening, as the license fee has to be recovered. That is not my
decision, but a fact of life where I work.

I don't have any financial input on this, but I might try to change
this, as it does seems a silly situation.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Can you run programs from USB Jump Drives, SD Cards? Flash Compact?
    ... We would llike for our students ... it to another machine) so they a able to move from classroom to ... One needs to carefully read the license for any application ... Registry is involved in any aspect of the installation. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers)
  • Re: Visual Basic 6.0 Working Model
    ... User License Agreement (EULA) governing the software included with the book ... not all of our students have the ... BASIC programming language, some of which are public domain or freeware. ...
    (microsoft.public.vb.general.discussion)
  • Re: Where to find good lisp critiques?
    ... > possibility that their might be expiration (Franz would be the people ... Whoa, whoa, whoa. ... anything wrong with an annual license, just that the number I was ... offering something more attractive to students trying to actually use ...
    (comp.lang.lisp)
  • Re: Portents of VMS death
    ... They are using those machines as part of their jobs. ... seem to think the students have all kinds of free time for playing. ... students Hobbyist License is loaded? ...
    (comp.os.vms)
  • Re: Database access from COBOL
    ... >> to offer really good deals on computers but the only school I even knew ... >>>I thought we were discussing the students using a workstation that you ... Like I said, it's a trade school task, not a college course task. ... > assignment of acquiring and loading the yearly license. ...
    (comp.os.vms)